Demon's Wrath
by Drekk
Summary: After the chamber of secrets fiasco Harry Potter has something happen that no one expected least of all Albus Dumbldore.  Harry has had his eyes opened and now it is up to him to decide what is going to happen with his life.  challenge fic Harry/Hermione


Demon's run

**Dark magic**

_Thoughts or reading _

_**Parseltongue**_

Challenge fic

Make a Harry/Hermione romance –Accepted

bad Dumbles, Ron, Ginny, Molly, and Remus while the rest of the Weasleys and Sirius are sided with Harry. - Accepted

Manipulative Dumbles - Accepted

Soul Bond - Accepted

Time Travel - Accepted

Super Harry - Accepted

Dark Powers - Accepted

Good Voldy - Accepted

Multiple animagus forms for Harry and Hermione - Accepted

The magical world has many creatures that stay just out of sight of the muggles of the world. Out of all these creatures the Basilisk is by far the most dangerous of all creatures. Dragons may be strong and magically resilient but you can look them in the eye and fight them head on. A Basilisk cannot be fought head on since one look into its eyes is instant death even using a reflective surface is useless instead of death it petrifies the victim leaving them in a state of suspended animation. The skin of this mighty serpent is unbelievable thick and completely resistant to magic when it gets old enough. Not many people are willing to risk the raising of basilisks regardless of how valuable their skins and other organs are because even if you manage to eliminate the eye problem by means of blindfolds or other such items you still have to contend with the bite of the snake. The venom of a basilisk is untreatable and death is caused after just a few moments. The use of a bezoars can slow the venom but it cannot stop the inevitable outcome the only creature immune to this venom are the basilisks themselves and it is without a doubt the older the snake the more potent the venom as is the magic resistant skin.

At the other end of the creature spectrum you have the Phoenix a magnificent creature of legend. Like the Unicorn, Phoenixes have the ability to judge the good in a person and posses' extraordinary healing abilities by means of their tears however a Phoenix is not as vain or fickle as a Unicorn and is willingly to work with any creature that they judge to be good. The song of a Phoenix is said to inspire and revitalize those who have good in their heart while those who have evil intentions are finding nails on a chalkboard amplified by a thousand resonating in their minds from the very same song. As for the tears of a Phoenix the few documented cases found stated quiet enthusiastically that even life threatening wounds where healed by said tears. Rumors perpetuated by this knowledge state that even a person drawing their last breath could be saved and healed fully by a Phoenix's tears though no case has been reported but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

Many philosophers and teachers both in magic and science always state that when two opposite and opposing forces meet there is a struggle for superiority till one of three possibilities happens. The first being one side dominates the other usually culminating in a volatile reaction. The second possibility is that the opposing forces balance in such a way that neither side has an advantage, thus nothing happens till an outside force is exerted on side or the other. The third and understandable the rarest option is for the forms to mix and mutate to form something completely unexpected.

Wizards and witches are not known for thinking outside the box generally they blindly accept what they see and never ask why or how. So when a young boy emerged from a door way drenched in blood sorting hat sitting haphazardly on his head and a gleaming sword held in his hand and a black book with a rather large hole in it no one at the time gave any thought of the recently healed scar on his arm. Unknowingly to all those watching the young lad something that had never been foreseen or even considered was taking place behind the scenes or better yet taking place in the young man's blood. Venom so potent that it was practically an acid strong enough to destroy a supposedly nearly indestructible magical construct now raced through the young man destroying his cells and eating away at his very magic only to be healed a split second afterwards by the tears of Dumbledore's Phoenix Fawkes. It was here that equilibrium had been reached neither the venom nor the tears having a distinct advantage and it would have remained that way had it not been for the meddling of one Albus Dumbledore. When Harry was first placed on the doorstep of his oh so loved aunt and Uncle Albus had placed several blocks on the young Childs core to ensure that his magic would be controlled for the greater good. However know with the venom racing through his blood it started to attack the very magic of Harry's core including the blocks placed there. The magic contained in the tears healed and restored the magic of Harry's core but since the blocks were of "foreign" creation the tears didn't repair the damage done to them. This being said another spot being slowly eroded by the venom was the magic behind the scar on his forehead.

That had been some time ago and now lying in his rickety bed in the second bedroom on the second floor of the Dursley home the young lad slept unaware of the internal struggle being waged by the varying forms of magic running rampant around his body. His magic was straining against the failing blocks placed around it as the venom continued the slow erosion until with a nearly audible snap the block broke and his now unrestrained magic flooded his body overwhelming the acidic nature of the venom and the healing magic of the tears integrating it into the young man's being both on the magical and cellular level. The soul fragment within hororcrux laying behind his all to famous scar had been able to withstand that nature of the venom but it suddenly was flooded with the raw magical power of the know unbound core along with the combined magic of both venom and tears easily broke through the soul defenses consuming it and integrating it as well into the young man's new magical core.

The durselys were woken up by a soul piercing scream fearing that Dudly was in trouble Petunia and Vernon raced up the stairs well one did the other had to take a breather every 4 steps. Petunia stopped dead in her tracks at seeing Dudley standing in the hall way trembling as he look towards the door bearing multiple locks and a cat flap at the base. Vernon was a very deep violet color when he joined the others looking at the door he wanted to smash the door open and throttle that freak for waking them all up but for some reason he couldn't seem to move. After what felt like a small eternity the scream stopped. It wasn't until the door opened that the Durselys finally knew what happened to the resident magic user. Vernon went pale a sheet, Petunia gagged. And precious Dudly fainted.

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Harry had been having a nice dream flying on his broom catching the golden snitch and hearing the roar of the crowed it was at this point in his dream when he was about to get a victory kiss from a young witch that the pain struck. Jolted from his sleep by the feeling of liquid fire spreading along his body he valiantly tried not to cry out but to no avail as the horocrux in his head shattered the liquid fire turned to molten metal his scream of pure agony was accompanied by the soul of Riddle being destroyed. His scream ripped his throat raw from the force of his cry. After a few minutes or at least what felt like an eternity to him the pain slowly subsided. Sitting up in his bed he felt dirty as if he had been running for hours and had a nice coating of sweat so in a slight daze he got up and moved to the door in order to head to the bathroom and clean up. When he grabbed the door handle it wouldn't turn and in his bleary state he barely noticed all the deadbolts reacting on instinct he waved his hand over the deadbolts willing them to unlock as he let his magic guide him. With a soft click the handle turned in his hand and he stepped into the hallway only to see his guardians standing there starting at him.

"Sorry didn't mean to wake all of you up I will just wash up and then go back to my room." His voice was slurred as if he had one too many to drink but that wasn't what bothered the hog, horse, and pig it was that in the dim light of the hallway the boy in front of them appeared to be drenched in blood from head to toe and where the blood fell on the carpet it seemed to slowly sizzle and burn away as if it had never been there. Quietly the animal family moved down stairs for a quiet family meeting.

Unaware of what was going on downstairs Harry flipped the light on in the bathroom and hissed slightly in pain as the light made his eyes hurt. Stumbling slightly he turned on the shower and when the steam started to billow out from behind the curtain he climbed into the stall without bothering to undress and let the hot water cascade down his body. The water felt so good and comforting that he didn't notice the soft sizzling sound coming from near the drain where the blood was disappearing before the water went down the drain. After a few moments Harry seemed to wake up and realized he was in the shower in his pajamas confused he stripped down and went about his normal routine seemingly unaware of his bloody appearance a few moments before. Drying himself off with a towel he grabbed his wet clothes and headed to his room barely able to slip on a pair of pants before collapsing onto his bed in a deep sleep.

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A banging on his door startled harry awake. "BOY!"

Harry quickly jumped to his feet and headed to the door and peeked out through the cat flap. "Yes Uncle Vernon?"

Vernon nearly jumped he had been expecting the door to open not for a voice to come out through the cat flap. "I won't have you slacking off in my house now I have a list of things I need done and you can start by getting breakfast on the table."

Harry pulled away from the cat flap and turned to get ready. "Right away Uncle Vernon."

Harry dressed quickly and opened his door never realizing that his uncle hadn't unlocked the door as usual. Upon entering the kitchen he saw everyone already seated at the table pointedly ignoring him he shrugged softly and set to work preparing breakfast not noticing the three turn to watch him slightly their minds trying to compare humble Harry with the slightly smiling blood drenched Harry from just a few hours ago. It had been quickly decided that for the safety and welfare of the family that they would back off of the freak but they wouldn't continue to order him around because they didn't want him to think his little freakism has had any effect.

Staring down at the skillet filled with bacon popping and sizzling Harry sighed to himself only thinking of how long his summer was going to be.

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Days passed and the house fell into its typical routine and soon the events from that fateful night left the thoughts of the animal family as did their restraint on working Harry into the ground. It was late in the afternoon as Harry was working in the garden and without anyone seeing carrying on a simple conversation with a little snake that had moved in under one of the rose bushes a quick hide to his small friend as he stood up to face his bull uncle. Before he could say anything though his uncle had grabbed his arm and dragged him back into the house as soon as they were out of eyesight Harry found himself pinned to the wall by one meaty hand with the other pointing a finger in his face.

"Now listen good boy, Marge is coming into town for the weekend and you had better make sure that nothing freakish happens like last year or your freak friends will never see you again. Do I make myself clear?"

Harry felt his anger welling up but didn't want to start anything so he quickly pushed his anger away and summoned up his meekest voice he could. "Yes uncle Vernon"

With one more shove into the wall Vernon let go. "Good now get in there and get supper ready Marge will be here soon and I don't want her to have to wait on your freak ass for supper."

Harry just nodded and followed his uncle towards he kitchen and started to prepare dinner as Petunia ran down the list of what he should cook.

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At Seven o'clock the door bell rang and was quickly answered by Dudley in an attempt to earn gentlemen points from his aunt who thought of him being a perfect gentleman regardless of what Dudley did. Harry groaned softly to himself as he finished putting the final touches on the dinner he had prepared and as planned he made his way towards the stairs intent on going back to his room till he was needed for cleaning up. His hope however of reaching the stairs uninterrupted however didn't happen as he turned the corner he spied ripper aunt Marges bulldog. Oh the joyous memories of having to climb a tree to get away from the 'lovable and cuddle' ripper. Now the bulldog spotted his favorite toy and made his way towards Harry while everyone in the living room watched in unveiled anticipation of seeing him run.

Ripper growled and looked up at the two legged chew toy and nearly jumped out of his skin as he locked eyes with the young boy. Ripper was a proud old dog he had been in scraps here and there and had always come out on top in his little mind all other animals were prey to be chased and if caught to be killed but now looking into the chew toy's eyes he felt afraid. This wasn't his chew toy it was something else a predator that was going to eat him he was going to die. Doing the only thing that made sense to him ripper rolled onto his back and wet himself hoping that complete and utter submission would spare his life.

Marge and the rest of the family where shocked by this sudden display and as Vernon stood drawing in a breath to shout at his freak nephew for cursing Ripper Harry looked up and with evident confusion clear on his face spoke. "Aunt Marge is something wrong with Ripper?"

Marge knew exactly what was going on she had seen many a dog take the same position ripper had just taken just before she let her favorite pet have his fun and if it hadn't been for the clear surprise and confusion on that bastard child that got dumped on her brother she would have thought he had done something but what if anything.

Harry was stumped first by what ripper had done and then by his family after he asked his question he hesitated for only a moment then decided not to look this gift horse in the mouth and shrugged his shoulders. "I was coming to let you all know dinner was ready I will clean the dishes when dinner is done."

With that he bolted upstairs shutting his door his mind desperately trying to figure out what had just happened.

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It was late when he heard Petunia call for him to come and take care of the dishes. Slinking out of his room he quickly made his way downstairs and into the kitchen where he began to gather up the dirty dishes from the table trying not to look any of them in the eye. Mage was in rare form tonight apparently she had hit the bottle rather hard during dinner and was making snide comments direct at him. "At least he is able to make himself useful I wonder how long it took the school to beat it into him."

Vernon glanced at him and arched an eyebrow. Harry quickly got with the program. "They had to beat it into me for a while since they say I am rather slow on learning new things."

Marge nodded her head and turned back to Vernon. "It is the same way with dogs you know. You can't blame the pups entirely if there was something wrong with the parents. I mean just last week one of Rippers liters had a few bad mutts in it obviously it was the bitches genes that did it since Ripper has never sired a runt from any liter. Probably the same with this boy probably his bitch of a mother had really faulty genes to. Could that be it boy? Is that why you are such a worthless runt because of your bitch genes?"

Harry stopped washing dishes and he slowly turned to face his aunt ignoring the glares from the rest of his family. "You know nothing about my family YOU SANCTIMOUNIOUS FAT BITCH!"

Petunia and Vernon paled while Marge took on the normal Vernon puce and was about to open her mouth for another tirade when a button on her blouse popped off and smacked Vernon in the face. Petunia whirled around and got the second button right in the middle of the forehead Dudly attracted by the popping sounds turned to his aunt and got the next two in quick succession causing him to jerk back in surprise. The sudden jerk along with his girth caused the straining chair to collapse under him sending him crashing to the floor Vernon soon followed as the table lurched towards him catching him in the midriff. Harry started to laugh long and loud as he watched Marge slowly expand and inflate she was frantically grabbing at anything to keep her grounded as her feet left the floor.

Realization suddenly clicked in Harry's mind and he knew he had to get out of their since ministry would probably show up soon not to mention that his loving family would take this embarrassment out of his hide if he didn't vacate soon. Rushing upstairs he grabbed all his stuff and quickly hurled it into his trunk gently taking Hedwig out of her cage he sat her on the window ledge. "Sorry girl I don't want you getting hurt find me later ok"

With a worried look his companion took flight away from his window as Harry watched her to make sure she was safely under way before grabbing his trunk and pulling it after him towards the door. Vernon hearing the banging of the trunk coming down the stairs started yelling for Harry to fix his sister but as the young man appeared in front of the door way Vernon saw once more the cold calculating look that he had seen the night before. "I think not dear Uncle I have had enough of your lies and hatred. So from the bottom of my heart let me say with all the love I have for you my dear family FUCK YOU AND MAY YOU BURN IN THE FIRES OF HELL!" With that he wrenched the door open and disappeared into the night. Vernon was so shocked by his nephews words that he let go of his sister.

Harry laughed as he heard the screaming obscenities of his aunt as she floated overhead. Spying the park nearby he headed for the nearest bench in order to catch his breath. As he sat there his mind calmed and doubts started to surface after all he had nowhere to go and only the spare coins in his robe pocket. As he sat brooding over what to do his attention was suddenly seized by a dark shape slowly moving in the bushes across the small path. Slowly he reached into his robes and drew his wand as he slowly stood and moved to step away from the bench it would have worked to if his large pant leg had not snagged on an exposed bolt causing him to fall backwards. He flawled his arms in an attempt to try and catch himself unsuccessfully though he did manage to keep his head from smacking the curb he lay there for only a heartbeat when there was a loud bang at the other end of the street and all he saw was two bright lights and a massive red shape barreling towards him. His seeker reflexes yanked him out of the path of danger just in time for the red vehicle to stop next to him.

"Welcome to the knight bus emergency transport for any stranded witch or wizard. Just hold out your wand hand and we will take you where ever you need to go. My name is Stan and I will be your conductor this Evening." The lanky gentleman glanced around and then looked down at Harry who was still sitting on the ground.

"Whatcha doing down there lad?" Stand asked somewhat bewildered.

Harry grumbled and yanked on his pants leg and with an audible tearing sound pulled his leg free. "I tripped when I was trying to get up."

Stan nodded before he stepped out and grabbed Harry's trunk. "Ah well it can happen to the best of us least you didn't have to big of an audience. Now where might we be taken ya to?"

Scrambling to his feet harry turned to watch Stan heft his trunk into the storage compartment. "The leaky Cauldron if it is possible."

"Course it's possible. Now if you would just board and find a seat we will be on our way." Stan motioned for Harry to climb aboard which he quickly did. Inside harry felt his mouth drop he was used to things in the magical world being bigger on the inside but this was a another thing all together. Four beds lines each side of the aisle and a large crystal chandelier hung overhead. Next to him was a wooden staircase ascending to another level which he was sure matched this one completely. Harry was about to walk down the aisle when he heard a soft cough from Stan and say his hand outstretched. He could have smacked himself for forgetting as he reached into his pocket and felt for the coins pulling out a galleon he handed to Stan hoping it would be enough. He watched as Stand eyebrows jumped slightly as he quickly deposited the coin in his pocket.

"Right this way Mr." Stan faltered slightly and Harry quickly gave the first name that came to mind.

"Longbottom." Stan nodded.

"Of course Mr. Longbottom right this way if you would please." Harry let himself be guided the front most bed and made himself comfortable.

"Alright Ern! One for the Leaky Cauldron." Ern turned and gazed back at Stan and Harry was startled by the very thick glasses he was wearing. With a nod Ern pulled a lever back and with a resounding bang the knight bus was back in motion. Harry found himself drifting away from Stan as all the beds rolled backwards. The overhead chandeler shook and tinkled as it swayed to every move the bus made Harry soon found himself smiling as he held onto the rampaging bed. Glancing towards Stan who was sitting in a rather comfy looking armchair next to Ern he saw the newspaper in his hands on the front cover a large man was holding a number placard and looked to be laughing his head off literally. In big bold lettering above the moving picture were the words "Escaped". When the bus slowed down near a rather busy muggle intersection Harr's bed rolled towards where Stan was sitting.

"Excuse me Stan?" Stan looked up from the paper and saw Harry. "Mr. Longbottom what can I do for you?"

Harry pointed towards the front of the paper. "That man who is he?"

Stan looked at the paper and then at Harry shock clearly visible on his face. "That is Sirrius Black Mass murder and biggest supporter of You-know-who! He apparently has managed to escape Azkaban prison. The Papers and Wireless have been broadcasting information about him non-stop your telling me this is the first time you have heard of it?"

Harry frowned at Stan. "I am forced to live with my muggle relatives who hate magic for the past few months so you and this bus are the first contact I have had with the magical world since school let out."

Stan sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry Mr. Longbottom I assumed you would have known I didn't think you were that out of touch with our world."

Harry sighed. "it's ok mistakes happen." He would have said more but the slowing of the bus caught his attention as it did Stan.

"Well this is your stop Mr. Longbottom the Leaky Cauldron. Again my apologies for making an arse of myself." Grabbing Harry's trunk he stepped off the bus and handed it to Tom before nodding to Harry and climbed back on board. Harry nodded towards Stan hoping he wouldn't beat himself up over this too much and watched as the Knight Bus disappeared with a bang.

Tom opened the door to the leaky cauldron and gestured Harry to enter. Blinking slightly from the light change and glanced around the sparsely populated room but didn't see anyone he recognized. Turning to look for Tom he spotted the Innkeeper heading towards the stairs and being unsure what to do he simply followed him up the stairs. The crooked hallway was only occupied by the cleaning lady and her broom that preceded her down the hall as he passed her he tilted his head in her direction much to her obvious surprise at the show of acknowledgment before turning back towards the back to the Innkeepers hunched posture. Tom stopped as he reached an already open door way preceding Harry into the room to place the trunk in front of the bed Harry followed him in and observed the food cart nearly overflowing with covered dishes.

A sudden movement near the window drew his attention as he witnessed a rather portly man looking out the window till he noticed Harry's reflection looking towards him. The man seemed to draw himself up before turning to face him. "Harry my lad you had us all in a worry with you running off like that."

Harry hadn't been expecting that his obvious surprise seemed to catch the stranger off guard seeing this, his mind raced to try and compensate digging back through his memories he finally came upon it. "I'm sorry Minister you just took me by surprise. I wasn't aware that you handled this type of situation personally?"

Minister Fudge gestured to the chair by the small table and smiled as Harry took his seat. "Mr. Potter it seems we are not speaking on the same topic. What I was referring to was your bold flight from your family's home. Not the greatest of choices to do at this time considering it left you unprotected."

Harry nodded slightly as if thinking it over but towards the back of his mind he felt something was wrong with this situation. "My apologies sir I was under the impression given the events of last year that if any underage magic was detected from me that my wand would be snapped and I was to be expelled from school."

As harry tried to make himself comfortable Tom had proceeded to place several covered dishes on the table gesturing slightly to each dish as he uncovered them to find what Harry would be interested in. He had heard plenty of horror stories regarding to the food of the Leaky cauldron but now seeing it firsthand the stories didn't do it justice. The moment Tom lifted the lid off the bowel of split pea soup Harry could have sworn he heard it growl and he quickly shook his head. Tom nodded slightly and placed the cover back over the obviously irritable bowel of soup.

Fudge moved to the chair opposite of Harrys and sat down. "Harry I am not here to snap your wand or anything of the sort we found your aunt and safely returned her to normal and your family has said you will be allowed to return after the school year has ended. Since it is only two weeks till the start of term I thought it would be easier for you to just remain here till school starts up once more. That is if you are interested."

Mentally fudge was smirking as he witnessed the boy's obviously revulsion towards those muggles. Not that he could blame the lad he had read the reports from Marge's deflating and one of his aurors nearly cursed the muggle and had to be restrained. "Now harry this offer does come with some rules I only ask that you remain in the ally and not go wandering about London can you do that for me."

Harry was gob smacked he didn't have to return to the Durselys he could stay here for two weeks and all he had to do was stay in the ally. "Yes sir I can do that. I really appreciate your generosity."

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Harry couldn't believe his luck not only did he get one back at the Dursleys but the Minister had guaranteed he would be free of them till school started again. For the moment he was basking in the joy of being able to sit and not have to worry about being yelled at or attacked. Hedwig sat on his knee as he absently stroked her feathers enjoying the fact she was no longer cooped up inside the cage. It was during this quiet moment Harry realized something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it but it gnawed at his mind till he finally moved his owl to the perch near the window and went to his trunk. Rummaging around in the hastily packed trunk he pulled out his first and second year charms book and his first year defense against the dark arts book. Before he sat down at the small table he glanced over at Hedwigs cage and sighed before heading back to his trunk and grabbed his second year Defense book he flipped the cover open to reveal half the pages had been ripped out. Sitting the now open book next to the cage he grabbed the paper out of the bottom of the cage and put it in the bin next to the door moving back to the cage he lifted the book and started to rip the pages out and lined the cage with them and glanced towards his now sleeping owl and laughed to himself. The first time he had done this his faithful companion had seemed to take particular delight in using the printed image of Gildroy Lockheart as a target every time she needed to relieve herself. He took savage glee at remembering the image strain to be as far away as possible from the owl pellets till Hedwig had dribbled water all over his quivering image Harry had laughed long and loud as the disfigured image curled in corner of the page and cried.

Sitting at the table he scanned the pages of the school books in front of him looking for something he wasn't sure what it was but his magic felt off. Closing the charms book he sat it aside and grabbed his first year defense book and started to scan the pages. Quirrel may have been possessed by Voldemort but he still had been a good teacher if you could get past the stuttering. It was near the end of the book when the headline caught his eye. "Magical Awareness" He softly read confused as to why Quirrel never covered the subject then the realization hit him. This would have been taught near the end of the school year probably for students to practice over the summer Quirrel never taught it because Harry had already killed him by that time and Dumbledore had dismissed the class for the remaining two weeks.

_Magic Awareness is the innate ability of any wizard to for the lack of a better word feel the magic around them. It is this magical awareness that allowed our predecessors to locate magical animals or the magical focal points. These focal points became the center of most magical communities allowing for the creation and maintaining of the wards that keep the muggles from noticing our world. It is the ambient magic in these communities that power the wards however several focal points in the past few centuries have dried up so to speak collapsing the wards and revealing the magical world to the muggles. The most disastrous of the events occurred in Salem Massachusetts the community was rather small and were quickly overwhelmed by the muggles many witches where burned at the stake and drowned out of fear. It was because of this singular event that caused the statue of secrecy to be passed by our own government and why it is so strictly enforced to hopefully prevent another Salem incident._

_Before a wizard is able to feel the ambient magic surrounding them they must first learn to sense their own core. This allows for the wizard to be able to distinguish their own magic from the ambient magic surrounding them. Once a witch or wizard has found their own core this will allow them to better understand the flow of their magic and to be able to regulate the needed magic required for spell work. This will also help in preventing any witch or wizard from overloading a spell which could lead to disastrous results. Take for example if you and a colleague decided to have a friendly spar if you had mastered your magical awareness you could potentially predict the strength of your opponents shield or which spells were more dangerous than others. If you had not learned of magical awareness then you would be unable to ascertain which spells were threats and which weren't forcing you to dodge each and every spell and be unable to determine the strength of your opponents shield. Now in this hypothetical situation if your opponent managed to land a rather nasty stinging hex on you and you lost your temper and fired a reducto putting your anger behind it the spell would be extensively overloaded. If your friends shield was not strong enough to absorb or reflect all of the energy then the reducto spell would shatter the shield and continue unabated ending in a rather nasty injury or potentially death. The reason for this potentially lethal "overload" is rather simple Witches and wizards do not just draw from their magical cores they also can draw on the ambient magic surrounding them. _

_In the previous hypothetical situation you fired a reducto at your opponent completely unaware that while you put what you thought was the right amount of magic behind the spell in your anger you were also drawing in the ambient magic surrounding you so the spell you fired could have been the equivalent of 2 or 3 normal reducto spells. Now that you understand the potential danger of underestimating the usefulness of magical awareness let us proceed into how one finds their magical core._

Harry set the book down and glanced towards his owl and felt his hands trembling. All those times he had nearly drawn his wand in anger he could have accidentally killed someone. Grabbing the book again he resolved to spend the time before school in mastering his Magical awareness. Pausing he grabbed his quill and some scrape paper and began to write a list of things he might need in order to master this skill.

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The morning sun streamed in through the window illuminating an empty bed. Hedwig flew over to the table covered in school books and parchment to the sleeping young man. She hooted softly to herself before leaning forward to nibble on Harry's hand that was propping up his head he flinched slightly and as he started to open up his eyes Hedwig moved closer to his face and hooted rather loudly.

Harry was having a rather pleasant dream lying on the beach away from all the press and fans. He was jostled out of his dreams by the slight pinching sensation on his hand the first thing he was aware of was the slight pain in his neck and hand his mind slowly coming out of dreaming bliss realized he had fallen asleep at the table. He opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden loud hoot and seeing a pair of large eyes looming towards him. He might not have jumped out of his skin but he did jump enough to tip his chair and with a startled cry and a rather loud thump Harry found himself lying on his back looking at the ceiling.

Groaning Harry untangled himself from the chair and stood up stretching to relieve sore muscles hearing another soft hoot he glanced towards Hedwig who was looking rather pleased at what she had done. "Har Har Har very funny." Hedwig flew off the table and with a single beat of her wings landed on his shoulder where she nibbled on his ear as if to apologize.

Reaching up he gently caressed his familiar. "Don't worry girl I am not mad at you. Now then I have got a lot to do today shall we hop to it?" Hedwig bobbed her head and hooted softly as if agreeing before flying to her perch so harry could get cleaned up.

Nearly an hour later a freshly cleaned and happy Harry stepped into Diagon ally Hedwig hooted softly on his shoulder as he made his way down the crooked street. As he neared the Flourish and Blotts he reached down and felt the coin bag in his pocket and realized there were only a couple of coins still there. Deciding to play it safe he turned and headed towards Gringots hoping that there were no other unexpected problems.

Stepping into the lobby of the goblin bank he had to pause and look around he had been to captivated by the appearance of the magical world to look the last time he had been here and he wasn't intending to pass up the opportunity that presented itself. It was as he expected it to be opulent and decadent which for some reason seem to make him feel uncomfortable as if there was something wrong with the room. Shrugging he moved to join the other wizards standing in line in front of the tellers and patiently waited ignoring the odd feeling of the room. As the last person in front of him moved he soon found himself staring at the line of tellers trying to figure out what he needed to do.

_Last time I was here Hagrid had my key. Do they still need it and for that matter whatever happened to it anyways. I hope they will let me take out some money by other means._

Doubts and worry started to manifest itself in his mind and he began to feel the all too familiar feeling of panic setting in. Down the line out of the corner of his eye he noticed a teller beckoning towards him swallowing the rising panic he strode towards the now available teller hoping none of the nervousness showed through. Now standing before the goblin Harry realized that this time around he didn't have to peer over the counter instead the he could look the goblin directly in the eye and as he did so he felt the need to maintain that contact to avoid looking away. He barely caught the shift in the goblins posture but the teller seemed to straighten up slightly as well as losing the image of being bored by his presence.

"Greetings Griphook I come seeking a moment of your precious time and wish to do business with your glorious establishment."

He might have barely caught the first shift in body language but this one came through clear as day. The widening of the seemingly permanently narrowed eyes and the sudden tensing of the shoulders clearly evidence of being caught off guard and flat footed as the saying goes. "Greetings Mr. Potter I do believe I can spare a moment of my time so long as you don't seek to waste it."

Harry felt his body tense at the underlying barb at his supposedly wasting the goblins time and decided to ignore it for the time being. "My apologies sir if I appear to be wasting your time I was unsure of the proper ways to withdrawal money from my vault without my key. I do beg your pardon if this question is deemed frivolous."

The goblin before him straightened and seemed to gain another inch or two as his eyes narrowed. "You dare enter this establishment without your key and have the audacity to request funds from your vault. Has your magical guardian taught you nothing of proper decorum and honor?"

Silence fell around them as the nearby patrons turned to gaze at the interloper who was on the receiving end of the legendary wrath of goblin tellers. Only to be taken by surprise at the sight of their precious Boy-Who-Lived. Harry was staring hard at the Goblin before him he was sure he had heard the goblin right. "Magical Guardian?"

The question seemed to hang in the air as the goblin and young boy locked gazes neither shifting nor yielding. Internally Harry's mind was running miles a second as he processed this new and disturbing information. Something clicked deep in his mind a passage he had read in one of the school books back in his room. It was his only hope and seeing how upset the goblin was in front of him he had best try and appease the goblin least his desperate gamble be wasted. Taking a step back from the teller he noticed the slight sneer forming on the goblins lips at his supposed quelling of this young human.

Bowing to the suddenly surprised Goblin he quickly put his plan into action. "I beg your pardon mighty goblin I was unaware of any magical guardian appointed to me to prove the validity of this statement I am willing to submit to any means at your disposal to prove I speak the truth."

The goblin slumped slightly seemingly unsure of what to do before straightening up and leaning forward slightly. "A wizard's oath would be accepted though only sworn on your magic or your life will be honored however."

Harry straightened at this but hesitated slightly unsure of how to proceed since the book only mentioned oaths it didn't state how to do them. The goblin before him noticed the hesitation and as he himself had been caught unaware by the sudden show of humility and respect gave the young man the benefit of a doubt. "The most common way of reciting your oath would to say I solemnly swear on my life or magic and then speak what you are swearing if magic accepts what you say is true nothing will happen but if you lie however the penalties will be enacted instantly."

Harry instantly bowed low to the goblin realizing that he had been shown mercy by such an act. Pulling his wand out he held it in front of him with the tip pointed at the ceiling as he called on his magic. "I solemnly swear on my magic and my life that I had no knowledge of any magical guardian till I was told by the honorable Griphook. So Mote it be!"

The spectators held their breath for fear that their precious savior might die before their very eyes. There were many gasps and shocked expressions as the magic swirled around Harry before silently receding into nothingness. Harry gentle placed his wand back inside his sleeve and bowed slightly to the dumbfounded goblin. "I do hope that the oath was satisfactory and that I have proven that I was speaking the truth."

Griphook was shocked if nothing else it was unheard of that someone would not be told of their magical guardian. It was passed into law by the ministry that any witch or wizard who had been raised in the muggle world was to have a magical guardian appointed to them to help teach them the ways of the magical world outside of school and to advise them unknown situations. Griphook stood to his full height and bowed towards Harry. "My apologies wizard it is unheard of for someone not to know they have a magical guardian perhaps we should take this conversation to a more private location before continuing."

Harry blanched slightly realizing that the entire room was looking in his direction. "That would be an excellent idea thank you."

Under the obviously curious eyes the two made their way to the opposite end of tellers and slipped into one of the doors leading to the private rooms and away from prying eyes. As the two were making their way down the hallway Harry noticed that the uncomfortable feeling disappeared as soon as they made their way past the door. Pausing he turned to gaze back into the main room trying to figure out what had just happened. Shrugging he turned and saw his guide waiting for him mumbling an apology he quickly caught up with the goblin. Harry spied several rows of doors up ahead and began to prepare for whatever was about to happen. He was sure the goblins were just as surprised as he was about his key he just hoped he wasn't in trouble over it. The goblin gestured to one of the doors which opened with a soft click Harry quickly stepped inside. The goblin followed him into the room and as the door shut ran a finger down the frame creating a second click before turning towards the desk. As he passed Harry he gestured to one of the two chairs sitting in front of the desk and quickly situated himself in the chair behind the desk as Harry made himself comfortable.

After a moment of silence Harry started to get worried. "I hope I didn't cause any problems for you or Gringot's."

"No you haven't caused us any problems. All you have done is reveal that you yourself have a rather large problem to deal with."

Harry nodded his head in agreement. Obviously there were some glaring problems all revolving around one particular person. "Would my magical guardian happen to be Albus Dumbledore?"

The sharp pointed toothy grin was all the answer he needed.

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It was growing dark when Harry stepped out of the bank and moved towards the Leaky Cauldron. He was barely aware of anything going on around him as his body moved on autopilot while his mind tried to cope with all the revelations he had received at the bank. It wasn't till he had practically walked into his door without opening it that he realized he had left the bank at all feeling slightly sheepish he quickly entered and locked the door behind him before sitting at the table. Griphook wasn't able to outright say much but when Harry asked a yes or no question he noticed that Griphook was trying to give him as much information as he could. However it was the idea that his supposed magical guardian was purposefully keeping him in the dark and ignorant of magical customs and laws that truly rattled the young man's mind and beliefs.

He felt numb as if the world around him ceased to exist. The only thing that he could feel was a deep burning rage. Startled he nearly lost the feel of it before he calmed himself down enough to feel it once more. He brought the memories of realizing that Dumbledore had betrayed him and he felt his anger start to rise once more ignoring his anger he focused on the feeling of that fire burning in his chest. The warmth soon began to spread through his body as his body began to feel as if he was basking in the noon day sun. Taking a breath he let the feeling fade away leaving him in a slight euphoric state as he began to laugh. It wasn't the laugh of happiness or insanity he couldn't help it soon the laughter faded away as did the euphoric feeling.

Sighing he stood up and made his way to his bed feeling tired and deciding to go to sleep never seeing the envelope sitting on the table addressed to him bearing the Hogwarts emblem. The implications from this one event would change his world weather it was for good or bad had yet to be seen. Harry laughed at himself as he thought of the pun snug as a bug in a rug fit him quiet well as he curled up under the heavy blankets. The train passing by his window barely roused him as he slowly drifted to sleep never seeing the soft blue light of the port key activating in the envelope or the fact his table just vanished.

AN: Yep I am writing a Harry Potter fic in hopes of getting back into my writing habit again. This is a challenge fic idea from Leo oculus posted on the Harry Hermione forum. I am in need of a Beta for this story if interested please PM me. Anyways I hope the first chapter was enjoyable even if it was a bit short.


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